Opening Remarks: Ken Robichard, Men´s LDR
Committee Chair, welcomed the attendees and briefly
described the Grand Prix process to date. President, Dan
Hart, thanked the clubs and individuals for their
participation this year and encouraged more clubs to get
behind races and participate in the Grand Prix process.
Rob O´Hara, Masters LDR Committee Chair, informed
the audience that the 2000 Grand Pnx results will be
scored in five-year age groups with the goal of
attracting more participants, especially in the senior
categories. In addition, he announced the opportunity to
wear color tags/bibs for identification of age group
competitors during Grand Prix events. This will be done
on a volunteer basis.

Ken read off the bidding races and scheduled dates. He
described the process for selecting the mandatory and
non-mandatory distances and presentation procedure for
each race.

Rich Schilder expressed concern about selecting races
which conflict with track and field weekends during both
the indoor and outdoor seasons. Steve Vaitones, Managing
Director, said that to date there was no set schedule for
the Twilight Meets, which will be dictated by the date of
the Olympic Trials and the athlete field to be assembled.
He said that the Association cannot guarantee track and
field dates and that it was up to each Committee to set
its own schedule. A motion was made to prohibit said
conflicts and was tabled in order for Dan Hart to check
the By Laws.

Dan announced that a Quorum had been established with 21
Clubs represented.

Following is a list of bidding races and selected events
for the 2000 New England Grand Prix:

Rob O´Hara lamented the low number of races
bidding this year, which resulted in not filling the
third non-mandatory distance slot. He suggested that the
clubs need to be more involved on the bidding side, as
only one club submitted a bid this year. The Association
offers assistance to all races through the LDR Chairs,
and will work to help them with the bidding process, if
required.

Race Timing Company Presentations:

Bob Teschek (Granite State Racing) gave a brief
explanation of why results often bunch runners and give
estimated times for missed finishers. He discussed the
importance of accuracy and speed in obtaining race
results, especially for the Grand Prix events. One factor
that causes inaccuracies is passing in the chutes. This
can be avoided by using the Chip, which determines the
order of finish as the runner crosses the finish line. He
encourages runners to buy their own personal chip to
ensure accurate results and also to lower the cost of
using the chip timing system. He emphasized that he times
and does results to USATF, records standards, and
certifies courses for USATF.

James Sarkisian (Sark Race Production) owns his own
software and is often able to pre-enter elite athletes
which enables quicker results. He has back up equipment
on site in case of equipment failure and recommends
presenting timing forms in triplicate.

Discussion followed regarding the need for one
additional non-mandatory distance race in order to
complete the 2000 Grand Prix series. It was recommended
and motion made to allow the Race Director of a losing
bid to re-submit their bid with a new course distance.
The motion carried, and the following two races
re-submitted their bids to be the third non-mandatory
distance race in the 2000 series:

Bedford Lions 20K

Bedford, NH

June 25

accepted

Library to Library 15K

Lexington, MA

August 29

Ken Robichaud delivered a “brief epilogue”
thanking the LDR chairs for their help with the selection
process and assistance throughout the year at the events.
He also noted the Board members participation at many of
the events and encouraged non-competing club members to
also get involved and assist the race organizers whenever
possible.

Rob O´Hara commented on the change in voting
procedure and reminded everyone that it was due to the
low number of bids received.

Peter Stasz re-submitted his motion prohibiting the
Track and Field Committee from scheduling Track and Field
championship events on the same weekends as LDR
championship events. Dan followed up by reading Section
A.1.a. Duties and Responsibilities of Sport Committees
from the Bylaws:

Each Committee has jurisdiction over annual Association
championships in the particular sport it controls, and
shall institute, locate, conduct, and manage all such
championships as deemed best by the Board of Governors
and in accordance with the By-Laws of USA Track &
Field.

Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 PM.

Respectively submitted,

Betsy Harshbarger, Secretary

Final Results of the 2000 Grand Prix Road Race
Series:

Law Enforcement

Half Marathon March 12

Brewery Exchange 5K

September 10

Bedford Rotary 12K

May 20

RoJack´s Run 8K

October 1

Market Square Day 10K

June 10

Cape Cod Marathon

October 29

Bedford Lions 20K

June 2nd

DECEMBER MEETING SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13TH,
AT THE USATF-NE OFFICE, 2001 BEACON STREET, SUITE 207.